Awww c’mon… Another postcard post!
Sorry, for the lack of variety in the posts lately, I’ve found myself with less and less free time of late, so the post that require less work are the ones coming out lately… Soon enough though, spring is in the air, and the camera will soon be out on the prowl, and lots of new subject matter will come along with the spring (at least I hope so)…
Enough of that, on to the postcard! 😉
So yes, another postcard, but this is one I had never seen before… A view taken from the south west corner of Pitt & Ouellette looking north. In the top right is the former British-American Hotel, who’s foundation is still visible today, also on the east side of Ouellette, but on the south side of Riverside Drive is the Victor Daniel Horsburgh designed Bank of Commerce that was demolished in the 1970’s for the CIBC tower.
The Ferry is at the dock, waiting for the next run to Detroit and note the streetcar loading zone lines painted on the road.
Had to believe this is the same block, 90 years later…
______________________________________________________________________________________
Windsor looked better 90 years ago then today !!!!!!!! Wow another great photo Andrew !! Thank you !!!!!!!
Hmmm…people on the street, a busy downtown, buildings that were interesting giving a nicer vibe to the area.
Ever notice that our population today is 5 times bigger than it was then (if not more) and yet our downtown is smaller; getting smaller each year.
Most cities downtown’s get denser as they get older but not Windsor! Only Windsorite’s heads seem to get denser as we get older.
i dig the 2 traffic cops in the middle of the street
Man – we’re BORING in the 20th century!!!!
Here we are waxing nostalgic for the ‘good old days’. Ninety years ago, the river was comparable to an open sewer. Coal burning factories, ships and trains pumped volumes of black smoke into the air. And good luck trying to enjoy the waterfront which was dominated by railyards and buildings. Yes, we have lost some good things in this city over the years but we have had positive gains too. As far as the downtown losing its retail to malls, plazas and big box stores, Windsor is hardly unique, unfortunately. I would love to see downtown as it was when I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s but unless they outlaw ‘the mall’, that will always be an uphill battle.
That view was largely intact until the early seventies.
Would Smith’s Department Store have been where Cigar and Tobacco sign is or was it built later?
Yes Matt just about there and a bit to the south.
Duncan you are correct inthat environmentally we are somewhat better off. However there are just as many cities that have thriving downtowns along with malls. If Stratford can do it why can’t we?
One of the biggest things missing in our downtown is it’s identity. What is it? What are we trying to convey? Where is the ambiance, the aesthetic? Sadly many of our downtown buildings are owned by a few who are waiting for “someone else” to kick start the area. These owners have a large majority of these buildings and haven’t done squat with them in years (sounds familiar to Detroit doesn’t it? And yet we have the same results which isn’t surprising).
Can you believe some people are trying to outlaw outdoor patios and cafes! Can’t we stop the madness and all get on the same damn page?
ME–I`d be very curious to see what Stratford(downtown and otherwise) would be like if Shakespeare left town…Gone would be the blue hair cash laden set and along with them the great restaurants, the trendy shops etc..
It`d be a VERY ordinary town……
Actually Bob C. having known people who live there yes during tourist season the downtown is busy. But even afterward the residents flock to their downtown and to the mall. The season is only half of the year.
What makes it special is the specialy shops (not chain stores like the malls), unique restaurants (that don’t look run down)that each offer something different, loads of on street parking (angled in some cases where needed), easy access to their waterfront (whereas Windsor’s waterfront is disconnected by the fast moving cars on Riverside Dr. and the poor design of no sidewalks in front of the St. Clair Centre for the Arts and the Hilton/Radisson).
I also notice that there are not huge swaths of only bars in certain sections. In Windsor try finding retail. It is too spread out to make an impact. One must walk all over downtown to find a few stores.
I would like to see “incubator” type of businesses sprouting up in some of the larger buildings. A place where small business with limited resources could open up in the same building as others but without the high cost of huge inventories and rent. If these large floor plans could be subdivided up to allow small square footage shops to open I think this could be a catalyst for change. But frist many of these bulidings must be cleaned, refurbished. Can’t we bring back large awnings on the front of buildings?
Duncan…or you learn from the mall
I agree with Duncan about the air quality, and lack of retail. It would be nice if we could turn back the clock to the sixties or seventies when the competition for buisness was Dorwin, and Gateway Plaza (WoolCo), and Hudsons. Before Devonshire Mall lured the main street to Howard and Grand Maris. but sadly this will never happen unless you level the downtown and start again.Now the push should be to keep the buisnesses that are not retail downtown.
I like the idea ‘ME’ had regarding a retail incubator. I believe that The Shops in the Kresge in downtown Detroit, http://www.shopkresge.com, has potential.
I was born in 1920 it looked like this when i was 11 yrs old. Friendly people and alot of Detroiters would come and have a drink. The ferry was a joy. I am still around and i don’t like the change. People never use to lock there doors at night..some did some didnt but most didnt. Crime wasn’t bad. I would ride the street cars with my grandmother, and shop downtown every week, and go to the market. My grandparents cousins owned smiths. It was a great place to shop. Very much like walmart today, you could find anything you ever wanted there. Kresges was a place to eat, Barlets was good to. The American British Hotel was a very sharp place to be…how times have changed! I don’t know how long i will be around but im glad i got to see how it looks today…My dear friend is typing this for me cause i cannot use my fingers anymore..but all i can tell you is the water front is really nice to look at when you walk by, without all them hotels there blocked most of the view back in the day.
Ps…It looked like this until i was 18 but what i meant to say is before they closed it when the tunnel and bridge opened…that’s when the ferries closed, but boblo boats still came only..until the late 70’s i believe.
Thanks for the memories Gretrude! and thanks for helping her type dear freind!
Andrew, I’m personally loving all these postcards so keep’em coming! I never knew what those line on the road were in pictures…now I do.
I’ll agree like everyone else about the pollution back then, but there have been absolutly no positive gains as far as I can tell. we’ve only managed to level and pave over our citys identity. I cannot for the life of me find a single attractive structure downtown of any modern arcitecture…we tore down that beautiful bank for the POS CIBC tower? the norwich for another ugly peice of garbage….empty garbage that is.
And ME – awenings…..i love the idea. it feels more stiched together with awenings.
It’s also very sad that the only thing left in this entire picture is Wolley Bulley’s (which i thought got bought out by that “for lease” francise that’s been seting up shop all over town) I think it’s original to the block anyways.
ah well, Thanks Andrew!
All these postcards are great Andrew – keep ’em coming… Great memories Gertrude. I too remember the British American Hotel and that block of shops down to the river north of Riverside Drive. Thanks for posting your memories.
If I recall, the AGW has a piece of the metal eagle sculpture off the facade of the British American Hotel – it used to be on display in the old version of the gallery (early 1990’s) where the new one stands today.
Nice find Andrew. Nothing wrong with the postcards!
Love this postcard.
Aaron, I believe the old Wolley Bulley’s building was built around 1977, after Smith’s was torn down. It originally was built to house an A & W Restaurant. Could the tobacco sign actually be part of Smith’s. It would probably have had a tobacco department.
The building in the left hand bottom corner -was that the Camin or Kamin building? Does anyone know. I’m not able to read what the sign says at the top of the building – maybe law office? I think there was a men’s clothing store there in the 1970s.
The corner building referred to by Paula is the Laing building which later became the Kamin building.
Thanks Stephen. I can read Laing now that you mentioned it.
thanks for the info Paula. Silly me thinking they actually spared a building! lol
I just noticed on the new TD building going up there’s a sign that says “JUNK”. Now, I realize it’s the name of a buisness….but still, how fitting.
So the little 4 ledges at Villa Udine & Riverside was part of that hotel?
http://maps.google.ca/maps?source=ig&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF8&q=pitt+%26&fb=1&gl=ca&ei=9CWkS__oJsG0tgejk-SbCg&ved=0CBIQtgMwAA&sll=42.319839,-83.039973&sspn=0.000942,0.002411&split=1&rq=1&ev=zi&radius=0.06&hq=pitt+%26&hnear=&ll=42.319839,-83.039973&spn=0,359.997589&z=19&layer=c&cbll=42.319749,-83.039703&panoid=h0IKgpl5Sp56Q4u5v45D8g&cbp=12,307.99,,1,8.08
The foundation wall is visible here:
View Larger Map
Which part of the Google Streetview image might that be Andrew?
The small wall behind the two brown garbage barrels. There is a plaque on the square planter behind the orange barricade that explains what the wall is.
Ha, thanks Andrew. You’re a little better than me at Google-Map-Fu…
The environment is certainly cleaner than it was but the Detroit River is no sparkling stream today and I wouldn’t want to eat anything from it. Downtown was not always beautiful but it had charm and it had variety. This city centre collapse is as has been said, far from unique but in can be no coincidence that the two, ‘motor cities’ have gone the same way with wasteland city centres. Marks & Spencer robbed the city of Smiths and by default, Bartlett, McDonald and Gow. The one thing the downtown shopping experience gave was variety. At the malls all the stores are the same with the same companies trading. It’s the same all over the western world, we have been homogenised and served up bland, uninspiring retailing. Despite the polution and all that, I’d rather live in Windsor circa 1970 than Windsor 2010. Oh what I’d give to be in Kresge’s right now eating a cheeseburger!!!
Gretrude nice to read your post. You have a few years up on me. My Grandgather owned the British American Hotel from about 1912 to 1029. My mother worked there and married the owners son….my father Eddie Ingram. I used to love taking the ferry to Detroit and then before getting on the ferry again we always had to stop and have a big glass of Vernors gingerale. Smiths, Barlet McDonald and Gow and Adelman’s were the stores to shop at but there were a lot on good stores also. Remember Wilkonsson’s shoes? Thet wore like a pigs mose. That was their slogan. Well I coukd go on and on but it’s time to get some supper so goodbye for now. Love this website Thanks Andrew.